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Taking Back Sunday wear their hearts on their sleeves and shirts, pants, chests and foreheads.

By Jesse Lord

Emo is a pretty ponderous subject for me. It's very touch-and-go; you can have some genuine, heartfelt bands who really just tell it like it is and then you can have the whiny, "my girlfriend left me so I'm going to write a CD's-worth of songs about how much I hate her now" type of bands. Furthermore, I hate it when certain emo bands think that it's all about the lyrics, not the music behind the words or even the singing of said words. It's painful to hear a great poem full of emotion and feelings, only to writhe in your seat as you listen to the horribly implemented music and vocals. Good lyrics, crappy music or crappy lyrics, good music, whatever the case may be the end result is the same: It truly takes away from what could have been a great experience. Taking into account that I believe the first few lines of any CD are often the most telling hint of what's to come for, TBS get off to a somewhat shaky start. After some nice guitar noodling, accompanied by some great drum parts the song "You Know How I Do" kicks in with the lines "so sick (so sick) of being tired / and oh so tired of being sick." Hmm, kind of cliché, which doesn't bode too well for these guys. However, I am a firm believer in second chances, so I decided to hold judgment 'til the end of the record. Relatively weak opening lines aside, the song is pretty well performed musically. It rocks out at a medium tempo and contains a pretty sweet breakdown featuring the bass guitar and some dichotomy between two different vocal parts that seem to blend together surprisingly well. Now I've always been intrigued to hear an emo band return to the punk roots from which the genre came. It's usually either well-done or extremely crappy. In the case of "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut From the Team)", thankfully it's the former instead of the latter. Although containing an extremely emo-infused first couple of lines, this song keeps a nice fast, almost cut-time feel to it, and the chorus seems pretty much like it could come out of any pop-punk outfit currently in the scene. Yet as much as they can sound like a punk band, all it takes is some careful listening (pay close attention to the lyrics) and you'll remember just what kind of band Taking Back Sunday is, and I mean that as a good thing. In short, you never feel like they're trying to be someone or something they're not.The song "Great Romances Of The 20th Century" starts out with some simple, if a little cheesy and obviously electronic, string parts. Quality of the strings aside, it's a nice, different way to intro the song. "Romances" is a tasty, medium tempo song rife with distorted guitars--both rhythm and lead--plus an energetic foundation of drums and bass backing it all up. Keeping true to emo form, it's a song all about a girl, a guy, and what separates the two. Pretty standard fare, sure, but there are some nice, unique elements to the music that ultimately make this song memorable.Within the standard subject matter of emo bands, is it possible for an emo ballad to exist? If so, "Ghost Man on Third" is a shining example of one. The lyrics don't provide any indication in this case, but the music behind the lyrics certainly does. The synth strings make a comeback in this lilting, slow-rock piece and there's even a sweet-sounding--if not a little eerie--female vocalist featured. Her voice is eventually pushed behind the scenes as the whole song comes to a head in a musical train wreck consisting of hard-driven guitars, smashing drums, and screaming vocals.The last song on the album worth mentioning is truly a bombshell. "You're So Last Summer" is typical emo--from the content about girls to the whininess of the singing--and there exists in this song perhaps the most emo lines I've ever heard from any song, ever. If I were to look up emo in the dictionary, I'd expect to see a picture of Taking Back Sunday along with the following lyrics: "The truth is you could slit my throat / and with my one last gasping breath / I'd apologize for bleeding on your shirt." I mean holy crap. It doesn't get any more emo than that. I have a strong desire to grab these guys by the neck, slap them silly, and exclaim "lighten up, guys! There are other girls out there; don't kill yourself over this one!" But then again, isn't that one of the selling points of emo? The strong desire of that which can never be yours, put into song form, so that anyone in a similar situation can instantly identify with the subject matter? I'd say so, and I'd say these guys do it quite well.Overall, this is a very strong, tight record. I've only mentioned about half the songs on it, but rest assured they're all pretty good. I just wanted to give you a sampling of what to expect on the disc. In case you were wondering where these guys fall in respect to my opinions of emo, they fare pretty well. There's some really good songwriting, which is in turn well-sung as well. The band has just the right elements of rocking-out and keeping the mood subdued. The vocals tend to get on my nerves occasionally, which is the only reason I'd never have this cd in regular rotation in my cd player. It's one of those albums I'd like to cut up and put individual songs on mix CDs. But, that's just my opinion. You might find that this is exactly what you need to have an outlet regarding a situation with that particular girl or guy, or maybe you just want to empathize with someone whose heart is breaking or broken and beaten. If that's you, buy this CD.